Mr Cable, who repeated his weekend call for more capital spending and for pensioners' benefits to be taxed, said he might back a Labour motion in favour of a "mansion tax" when it is debated in the Commons on Tuesday.

BBC: Budget 2013: Liam Fox urges spending freeze and tax cuts

All that said, he'd love to find his way back into hockey in some form, and he might be able to call upon his experience behind the bench.

WSJ: Nilan documentary showcases hockey's fight game

It is a wind machine he first saw in California seven years ago which he thought might just be able to protect his apple crop back home from frost.

BBC: Graham Hewitt and his wind machine

He will report back to me on further reforms that might be needed.

CNN: Iran-Contra Affair

Public opinion might be more willing to welcome him back were he to offer some sort of confessional explanation once home in France.

ECONOMIST: But what sort of reception can he expect in France?

Future Hall of Fame quarterback Favre said if he departed, it might be "the straw that breaks the camel's back".

BBC: Brett Favre in action against Cincinnati

Shonka looked back at the screen, where the young man he felt might be the best quarterback in the country was marching his team up and down the field.

NEWYORKER: Most Likely to Succeed

Tony Blair, the British prime minister, caused ructions when he suggested that foreign-aid policy might be tied to a country's willingness to take back its wandering citizens.

ECONOMIST: Asylum: A strange sort of sanctuary | The